


just a taste

by neogotmyheart



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Mild Smut, Vampire Hunters, Vampires, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 20:04:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18373130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neogotmyheart/pseuds/neogotmyheart
Summary: everything about taeyong should have pushed you away. instead, you found yourself falling faster and faster every night you spent with the vampire. you just hoped that your assignment of killing him wouldn’t get in the way.





	just a taste

Various weapons laid scattered around your feet as you tried to figure out which one would be best for the mission at hand. As you looked up and found your partner loading her own gun, you decided that you didn’t want any to use any of them. For the first time since you became a vampire hunter, you didn’t want to complete an assignment. “I think I’m going to go down there.”

“You cannot be serious.” Your partner, Elizabeth, stated from behind you. 

You turned to look at her, letting your hair down from the ponytail. “I’ve never talked to one before.”

“Yeah, that’s kinda the point of the guns.” She waved the pistol in front of you. “So you don’t have to risk your life. We can do it all from a distance.”

“I just have a hard time believing every single vampire is bad.” You sighed. As a vampire slayer it was your one and only job to find a supposed vampire, confirm they weren’t human, and eliminate the threat. Every single assignment, you did your job and got out. The only time you didn’t was when Elizabeth did something to derail the mission. These things were supposed to be quick. You wished you could explain what it was about this one that made something switch in your brain.

“So you’ve decided you want to chat up our newest target?” Her whiny voice triggered further annoyance. “___, you and I have both seen some shit. This isn’t a game.”

“Maybe. It’s not like I’m going in unarmed.” You patted the holster on your waist.

“If you go, you’re going by yourself and I’m telling Yuta.” She sounded like a kindergartener and you decided you had had enough. Why you kept being sent on assignments with her was beyond you, but after tonight, you were tempted to tell Yuta you couldn’t work with her anymore. Your only fear was that your boss would take her side since she was known for sucking his dick under the desk during work hours.

You rolled your eyes and took off towards the small garden you had previously spotted the dark figure. “He won’t care what happens as long as I do the job. I’m the best shot in the company.”

“Whatever. Don’t call me if you need an out!” She yelled as you walked farther away from her.

You waved her off, weaving through the rough grass in an attempt to find something even remotely replicating a path. She would be the last person you called if you needed help. Just her being out of sight was help enough.

All week you had been sitting at the top of the hill, watching the owner of the manor below tend to his garden. Every night he would come out and make his rounds through the open courtyard before finding his spot on the bench in the middle or the cobblestone area. You watched him as he would read whatever it was he was reading that particular night. He usually finished the book before the sun rose and prompted him to return to the safety of the shade. One night he spread out various books open in a circle around him as he looked up and watched the stars. You couldn’t help but do the same even going so far as to imagine him describing the various constellations and their meaning, passion lacing his voice that you imagined sounded like honey and warm tea. The man’s aura comforted you even from almost a mile away and you couldn’t deny the draw you felt to him.

After nights of watching him simply exist, you had grown a particular fondness to the creature. You even found yourself waiting throughout the light of day hoping that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t be the monster he had been accused of. All you wanted was a reason to approach the gentle man in the garden without worrying about how and when you would kill him.

His beauty was certainly contrast enough to the title he bore. With a jaw as sharp as your dagger and his strong nose, he definitely appeared threatening enough. However, something about the way the corners of his lips turned up when it was a certain time of night and his eyes traveled across the celestial bodies in the sky above him made him seem like nothing more than a young man. His eyes became softer when he cared for all his plants, patting the soil and gently pouring water from the old rusty can he kept by the bench. His strong features suddenly highlighted his softness instead of maintaining his intimidating appearance. 

The grass became shorter and shorter as you slowly approached the seated, dark figure. You tried to think about what to say to the man you had been admiring from afar, but nothing you could think of seemed worthy of his time.

“Make it quick, please.” His voice echoed through the silence, the only other sound being the flowing water from the fountain in the courtyard.

You stopped your steps, standing just a few feet behind the bench where the man was seated. “I’m sorry, what?”

He turned to face you, pointing at the gun situated on your hip. “Wooden bullets?”

“Yes, but how did you-”

“You’ve been watching me all week. The first day you did a decent job of staying hidden, but every day after that you came closer and closer to the peak of that hill.” He nodded towards the place you had been watching him every night.

You had to admit that your observance of him had become pretty blatant as the week passed by, but he had never given any indication of being aware of your presence. “If you saw me that whole time, why didn’t you do anything to stop me?”

“I’ve lived for far too long to care about death anymore.” He sighed, turning back around. “You would be doing me a favor.”

“I didn’t come down here to kill you.” You admitted. It seemed unfair to make him wait for a death you weren’t planning on granting him.

“No?” He raised an eyebrow before turning away. “Tell me why you came, then.”

You realized now just how childish this whole plan was. What were you supposed to do? Tell him you had never talked to a vampire before and you wanted to prove they weren’t all evil, even if it was just to yourself? Now you made the man you had been admiring into some sort of tourist attraction when he was supposed to be a serious threat.

The man interrupted your thoughts before you could give a proper answer. “You know what? It really doesn’t matter, does it?” He slid over towards one side of the bench. “Take a seat.”

You moved to sit next to him and instantly realized why this is where he spent all of his nights. The sight before you was nothing short of beautiful. Colorful flowers filled your peripheral vision while an elegant fountain sat in the middle. The sound of the flowing water created a serene courtyard that you could spend hours in.

“You’re awfully trusting of the person you’re supposed to kill.” He mused.

“I feel like I can trust you. After watching you all week, I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”

“That’s rather naive for someone who presumably does this for a job.” He tilted his head, peering at you from the corner of his eye. “You’re not scared of me?”

“It’s hard to be scared of someone who spends his entire life tending to flowers and watching the stars.” The way he looked with the moonlight painted across his face and his head tilted towards the eternal expansion of sky created the probably false image of a harmless man just existing while the world turned around him.

“Sometimes I read.” He added.

“Yes, of course. How could I forget?”

He let out a small laugh next to you and you decided that it was just as delicate as the various colored petals that surrounded you.

“My name’s Taeyong.” He looked at you fully now, eyes studying your features. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to really talk to someone, so I apologize if I’m impolite.”

“___. And you’ve been welcoming so far besides you telling me to kill you quickly.”

“To be fair, that was your original purpose.” He defended

“I guess you’re right.”

He hummed in acknowledgment. “You know, you could have come down any of the other days. I would have greeted you similarly.”

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to.” You admitted. While it was peaceful to watch him carry on about his night, you were unsure of how he would react if you just strolled up to him. Of course, that was before you knew that he had seen you the whole time.

“What changed today?”

“My partner wanting to kill you.” You played with your hands, afraid to see the reaction on Taeyong’s face.

“That made you unafraid?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been afraid of you. It just made me realize I didn’t want you to die.” You gave him a small glance from the corner of your eye and found him nodding, processing your confession.

“I haven’t done anything to prove that I deserve to continue living.”

“No, but what’s more important for my job is that you haven’t done anything to prove you deserve to be killed.”

You finally worked up the courage to really look at him since coming down from your perch on the hill. He was even more beautiful than you could have imagined. His eyes were dark brown and skin a beautiful, unmarked milky white. The only blemish on his entire face was a scar underneath his right eye, but it somehow added to his beauty instead of taking away from it.

“You haven’t seen me feed.” He hinted. You weren’t sure you wanted to see him feed. It would make you come to terms with what he really was.

“You haven’t left all week.” You reminded him. “There wasn’t a chance for me to.”

Taeyong let out a slow breath. “You wouldn’t have seen anything anyway. There’s a spot in town where there are willing donors. I only take what I need and leave.”

“You just go there when you’re hungry?”

“Kind of. I’m never actually hungry, but I do get weak. One of the many cons of being immortal.”

“You obviously don’t feed often.” You had watched various vampires feed multiple times a week and yet Taeyong hadn’t fed once in your time observing him.

“I have no need to be at my highest potential seeing as this life doesn’t have anything to offer me anymore.”

In the short time, you had been speaking with Taeyong, you had realized he had absolutely no desire to live any longer and he couldn’t make that clear enough. You already had developed a distaste for his pessimistic manner of speaking simply because you really didn’t think you would be able to give him the one thing he wanted.

“Why do you say that?”

“I’m in this garden every night because it was my wife’s before she passed,” Taeyong said simply.

“Was she also a vampire?”

“No. Never had an interest in being one and, to be honest, I didn’t want her to be either.” His tone was somber but still free of regret.

“Why?”

“Seems like an awfully cruel punishment to make people live while everyone else passes on. I would have her, but at what cost? We would both be miserable.”

“How long ago did she pass?”

“About a hundred years ago.” He looked up at the stars he seemed to watch every night. “Each day is longer than the last.”

“What if I stay here? For the night, I mean. You wouldn’t have to spend it alone.” The thought of him spending yet another night alone in a garden full of memories he would never get to relive made it too painful for you to leave. He was overall rather pleasant company even if he was wrought with sadness and seemed to be unable to talk about anything but his grief and unwillingness to live.

“Do not feel as if you have to stay just because I’m unhappy.”

“I want to stay. I know that everything we’ve talked about hasn’t exactly been the most thrilling topics, but I finally feel calm and that’s something I haven’t felt in a while.” You couldn’t explain the last time you had felt such peace. Whether it was the courtyard or the company, you wanted to hold onto this feeling for as long as possible.

“I feel the same.” He looked at you, features soft. “You are more than welcome to leave at any point. I know you have a job to do.”

“I can get a new assignment tomorrow. I’m not worried about it.”

“You’re very carefree. It’s refreshing. It often feels like everyone is worried about something.”

“There’s always something to worry about.” You shrugged. “I’m just not worried about work at the moment.”

“Once you’ve been alive for 300 years, you realize so many things aren’t worth your worry.”

“300 years… That’s...”

“A long time?”

“Yeah. I can see why you weren’t opposed to me killing you. Sorry if that’s an untimely joke.” You apologized.

He laughed. “It’s the truth, is it not?”

You nodded. “How did you even become a vampire?”

“I was originally a soldier and I hated it. The whole idea of war had never really made sense to me, but it was a draft and I really had no choice.”

“Did you turn during your service?”

He nodded. “I was sent on a small mission with just a few others. We were supposed to raid a small village since we were so short on supplies. We entered a house that we thought was abandoned and instead found a man lying in the middle of the floor. I rushed to his side in hopes of giving him any sort of aid and he kept rambling on about how he was weak and he needed to eat. He eventually bit me.” 

Taeyong began stroking his forearm and you wondered if that was where he was bitten. “I had no idea what was happening. I thought that vampires were of folklore. One of my comrades, however, had dealt with one before and broke a chair leg, driving it through his chest.”

“Did you go back with everyone?”

“No.” He shook his head. “The same person who killed the man who turned me said that it would be too risky to take me back with them, so they left me there.”

“That’s pretty shitty.”

“It ended up being for the better. Later that night, I went on a rampage. I had no one to tell me what was happening to my body or what I needed to do. I ended up killing a few of the last people in town since I was unable to tame my aggression.”

You weren’t really sure what to say. You had him admitting something that was obviously one of his biggest regrets and now was the time that you were unable to form words.

“Really shows what I’m capable of, doesn’t it.”

“Just because you’re capable doesn’t mean you’ll do it. I’m capable of killing random people on the street, but that doesn’t mean I do.”

“Why are you so willing to believe that I’m good?”

“Because I’ve seen people who aren’t. A lot of the times I don’t even wait for my observance week to end because they’re so terrible.” The things you had seen since starting this job consisted of stuff that belonged in nightmares. You had seen someone mutually dismembered just to be used as a food source for a few vampires. One girl screamed for thirty minutes as the man who used to be her boyfriend drained her life from her after being recently turned. You watched as he cried over her lifeless body just to deliver a shot right through the chest.

“Do you mind telling me about you?” He asked cautiously. “I have to live with my own thoughts every day. It would be nice to hear yours for a change.”

So you told him everything you could think of from growing up to random stories from college. You told him about your family, especially your mother and the bond with her. Stories of old relationships came and went rather quickly just because none of your relationships deserved to be re-lived and none of the men were worth your time anymore, much less Taeyong’s. You unpacked the stress of your job and your growing distaste for your partner. Everything that you could ever want to tell anyone was poured out in a single sitting to the man who was supposed to be your target.

All the while Taeyong sat and listened to you, attentive to every word you said. He responded when you gave him the chance to and even asked further questions regarding certain topics. When you would voice your frustrations, he was right beside you validating your emotions. The whole night was active and engaging conversation despite the topic being solely on you.

You looked at him when you ran out of things to say. “Think you could write a biography on me now?”

He laughed for what seemed to be the countless time that night and you couldn’t help but smile. “I would love to, but unfortunately I would need a little more information.” He looked off at the skyline, noticing the black transitioning to a deep purple. “The sun will be rising soon. Thank you for tonight. It was nice to break my normal routine.”

“What if we make this the new routine?”

“I don’t know how much more you have to share with me.”

“No, I just mean me being here.”

“___, I enjoyed talking to you but your whole job is at night.”

“My partner can do the observances. I’ll get my end done quickly and then come straight here.”

He seemed to be thinking. “Why all this for someone who isn’t even a person anymore.”

“Because honestly, Taeyong, I have lived my entire life and have never met anyone like you. Tonight, I felt like I was finally where I was supposed to be.”

He reached out to squeeze your hand. Maybe you were warm from his presence or maybe your mind was trying to trick you into believing he was still human, but his touch wasn’t near as cold as you expected it to be. “Then I will see you tomorrow.”

He left you sitting in the garden to watch the sunrise. You wondered when the last time he got to experience a sight like this was. The golden light of the morning washed over the courtyard and you let your mind imagine what Taeyong’s skin would look like covered by the honey tones of dawn. You would revisit those thoughts at another time but at the moment, you needed to check into the office to request a new assignment.

Walking into the simplistic office space, you were greeted by the secretary telling you to go directly to Yuta’s office. Yuta’s voice was already echoing around your head with all the various things he could get onto you for. You had already constructed the story you would deliver in order to receive your new assignment.

Opening the door to your boss’ office, your partner slipped out. It didn’t take two brain cells to figure out why she was in there with her hair being in the state it was currently in.

“___.”

“Yuta.” You nodded towards him, moving to sit down.

“You approached your target.”

“And eliminated him. Can I get my next assignment now?”

“You eliminated him?” Yuta repeated, looking at you like he didn’t believe the story you were telling him.

“That’s my job isn’t it?”

“Elizabeth told me you had a weird fixation on this particular assignment and approached him.” You could kill her. It took all you had to remain calm and focus on selling your story. There wasn’t a single thing she didn’t ruin.

“I just thought he was harmless. I was wrong. He was a vampire and he needed to be eliminated just like the rest of them.”

“I would prefer if you didn’t do that again. Stay at your perch and use your pistol. We switched from stakes for a reason.” Yuta shifted through his stack of papers, handing you a new folder.

You took it from him. “Did I scare your little plaything?”

He ignored your comment, changing the focus back to work. “That’s your new assignment. I expect to hear from you when you finish.”

“I’m begging you, do not send me on another assignment with Elizabeth. I don’t care how good she is at whatever she does for you after hours. She’s absolutely intolerable.”

Yuta rubbed his head, exasperated. Out of everyone in the office, you liked to believe that you were the closest. If you two hadn’t had an established friendship outside of the office, you would have never dared to speak to him the way you do. The two of you had gotten to be close as partners before he was promoted as head of the vampire department. It was hard to make the transition to the new partner for obvious reasons, but Yuta deserved this position.  “___, please. No one wants to work with her and I can’t send you on an assignment alone.”

“Fire her. Or! Send me with Doyoung instead. Put her with Sicheng and she’ll be put in line real fast if you wanna keep her so bad.”

“You and I both know Sicheng will replace the bullets with real ones and I’ll end up with one less hunter and a murder case on my hands.”

“Maybe that’s what she needs.” You mumbled, slumping back in your seat. Yuta shot you a look and you groaned. “You already gave her my assignment, didn’t you?”

“That’s why she was in here before you.” Yuta mused.

“My hair also gets messed up when you give me assignments.” You said sarcastically, pointing out the less than perfect state of her hair when she left the man’s office. 

He didn’t react, just looked at you. “Keep talking like that and I’ll put you with her until you die.”

You stood up, walking towards the door and calling over your shoulder. “Put me with Doyoung next time.”

“We’ll see, champ,” Yuta called as the door came to a close behind you.

You flipped him off as you sorted through the new file. This one should be a breeze considering he already had confirmed aggressive sightings by another pairing in the office. You could skip the observation week and jump straight to the elimination. You just needed the airhead to stay out of your way long enough to get things done quickly. The sooner you could get in and out was the sooner you could get to Taeyong.

“___.” You could hear Elizabeth’s voice from down the hallway, causing your hair to raise on end.

“Well, speak of the devil.” You turned on your heel to face her. “What do you want?”

“We need to make plans for tonight.” She looked at you expectantly, arms crossed.

“We’re going. You’re going to let me take care of it. We leave. There are your plans.” You told her trying to turn around again.

“You’re such a bitch, you know that?”

You took a deep breath before facing her once more. “The last time I let you have any say in what we did you almost got me killed. You still consistently give away our position to a creature that moves three times as fast as us. You’re a terrible shot and an even worse strategist.”

“I’m not the one that walked right up to a vampire.” What a comeback. She had no idea the dangers she could have left you with. While you were thankful she left so you could create a lie, it didn’t change the fact that she completely broke protocol. 

“I’m also not the one that left my partner with said vampire.”

She looked at you slack-jawed as if what you suggested was just such an outlandish accusation.

“You’re lucky I’m alive. Now if you have just one brain cell in that empty head of yours, you’ll let me take care of this so we can have an early night.” You shook the folder at her before walking off. 

The last thing you needed was her endangering you with an aggressive case. You continued to flip through the folder in hopes of gathering more information before you got there. You hoped Elizabeth was at least smart enough to look into the case and not go in blind, but with your experience, that was giving her a lot of credit she didn’t earn. You needed to get plenty of rest before you dealt with her again.

Dusk came far too soon as you loaded up your bag. Your gun was still loaded from last nights lack of use. You also packed a bow and a stake just in case. The stake was more important considering Elizabeth had absolutely no volume control. You took out your phone, dialing your partner’s number.

“Hello?” The mockingly singsong voice echoed through the receiver. 

You rolled your eyes. “Are you on your way to the scene or do I need to come get you?”

“I would prefer if you came and got me. I don’t want to get there before you do with how much of a psycho this guy is.”

You let out a sigh of relief. For once in her damned life, she looked at the file. “I’m on my way. Pack a stake just in case.”

“But Yuta said no more stakes.” You could almost see her pursing her lips into a pout and it drove you insane. She cared so much about  Yuta’s rules but she couldn’t even bother to listen to the full thing. Or ever actually follow them.

“Yuta said no more stakes for primary weapons.” You reminded her.

“Oh.” She mumbled. 

“Whatever. Just be ready in five.” You hung up and loaded your car before driving down the street. You sorted through all possible events that could happen to make sure you had a plan for each. The worst case scenario would be being spotted right away while the best would be not being spotted at all. In your time working in this line of work, the best case scenario happened hardly ever.

You stopped by Elizabeth’s apartment, picking her up and spent the rest of the drive ignoring her mindless chatter about her nerves and how big of a threat this was. The various plans ran through your head as you pulled up to a building across the street from your target’s favorite night club. The spot you had picked allowed you to have a view into the alleyway where you assumed he took most of his victims.

You heard rustling papers to your side and saw Elizabeth flipping through the file. “Richard Jones, huh?”

“I thought you already read the file.”

She looked at you with brows furrowed. “Why would I do that? Yuta told me he’s aggressive. That’s all I need to know.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” You mumbled, resting your head against the steering wheel. “What I said in the office still stands. You let me take care of this.”

About an hour after you arrived, you finally spotted Richard entering the club, women in tow. You suspected only another thirty minutes until he selected a victim and dragged them out to the dark to do his bidding. The two originally on this case barely finished the observation week before they were spotted, putting them at risk for the actual elimination. From the report, the man had a schedule. He liked to feed here, be out by ten at the latest before he ran around with a few of his buddies and turning into full on sex fiends, using his high from a recent feed to fuck all of his vampire friends. You rolled your eyes at the cliche of it all. This is exactly what you thought vampires were before you started working here. It was an absolute pleasure to get rid of one of the stereotypical creatures. It was like these people read the summary of Dracula once and decided that’s what they wanted to be.

At about 9:30, You saw two figures push out the back door, bodies pressed to each other. Without even seeing their faces, you took the liberty of assuming one of them was the man you were looking for. You slid your stake out of your bag, wedging it between your thighs just in case he was able to get close enough to you. Sliding your gun out of your holster, you checked the clip one more time to ensure it was loaded. All you needed now was for the target to get far enough away from the civilian that you could take a proper shot. 

You heard a gunshot to your right and noticed the pipe next to the woman’s head move slightly from the impact. Both people in the alleyway now had their attention on your car, more specifically on Elizabeth who was hanging out the passenger side window, gun still in hand. 

You quickly noticed the speed at which your target was moving and slid into position. While you wanted to hound your partner about the carelessness of her actions, now really wasn’t the time. You rolled down your own window, leaning out just enough to see the target and make a proper shot. Carefully taking aim, you took a deep breath as the man was now seconds away from you and pulled the trigger. The wooden capsule landed square between his eyes as he fell to the ground. 

Grabbing your stake, you got out of the car and walked over to the body on the ground. While you wanted to trust the specially engineered bullets to do the job, you preferred to finish things off the old fashion way. You drove the wooden weapon through the vampires chest for good measure and pulled out your lighter, setting the protruding post on fire for the final step.

Whether or not the burning actually did anything was unbeknownst to any of you in the office. As far as you were concerned, once a wooden instrument had made its way through a vital organ, the creature was dead. The group had been burning the vampires the entire time as sort of a precautionary measure. No one knew what vampires were capable of so the only way to ensure that the deed was done was if you left nothing but a pile of ashes behind. 

The woman in the alleyway’s screams brought you back to the present and reminded you of the situation Elizabeth had threw you into. After yelling at her to stay in the car, you made your way over to to the woman from the club in order to explain what just happened. It took a few times for it to get through to her with the shock that she was in, but after showing her your badge, she started to fully grasp what she witnessed. She nodded slowly, politely declining the ride home you offered her. Instead, she thought it would be best to gather up her friends and just call it a night. 

Once back in the car you looked at Elizabeth. “What did I tell you?”

She didn’t answer, just stared down at the gun that she had discarded to the floorboard in shock.

“What did I fucking tell you?” You asked again, intensity of your voice increasing.

“You told me to stay out of your way.”

“You could have killed us because you’re too dimwitted to remember a damn thing you’re told.” You shifted the car into drive and took off toward the office. “We’re going to the office to turn in our completed assignment. Then, you can ask Yuta to take you home after you tell him about the stunt you just pulled.”

You knew it was excessive and that berating her wouldn’t change the situation. The only problem was that she put your life in danger at least once a month and there was only so much you could take. You only had so much patience and having your life put on the line could wear it thin faster than anything. The only thing keeping you from absolutely exploding was knowing that once you turned this mission in, you would be able to visit Taeyong and sit in the courtyard you found so much comfort in the night before. 

Walking into the building you had seen just hours ago, Elizabeth was practically left behind. You made a beeline for Yuta’s office, refusing to let yourself calm down before you could talk to him. The door swung open as you stopped right in front of your boss’ desk.

“___, thank you for knocking and waiting until I invited you in.” Yuta was already wildly displeased which could work to your benefit. You could tell him what happened and hopefully, he finally snaps.

You threw the file on the desk. “I completed the mission no help to your fucking sex toy. In fact, she almost got us both killed for the last time. You fire her or I walk.”

“Woah, woah. What happened?”

Elizabeth rounded the corner. “I just barely missed and I-”

“You didn’t _barely miss_. You were two feet off. Not only that but you took a shot that could have endangered a civilian.”

“Girls, please.” Yuta was rubbing his head. “Elizabeth, did you go train with Johnny like I asked you to?”

“No, but I-”

“There’s no ‘but’s anymore. I have given you every lifeline I could think of and you refuse to take any of them. I can’t afford to keep dead weight on the team.”

“You’ll regret this, Nakamoto Yuta.” Elizabeth wagged her manicured finger at the man in the chair before storming out.

“There’s plenty of people who can suck dick, Elizabeth. The difference between them and you is that they can probably shoot their target.” You shouted down the hallway.

Yuta looked at you, eyes fiery. “Look. You may be one of my best hunters but that doesn’t mean you can just run around doing whatever the fuck you want. Last night you approached a target without any backup and tonight you threatened me.”

“Yuta, she needed to go.” You defended yourself.

“And I would have fired her without the ultimatum and public humiliation.” He looked at you before standing up and walking to the door.

“Take a week off to get your attitude in check. You’re expendable, ___. Never forget that.”

“You’re joking right?”

“I’m really not. You’ve been acting ridiculous lately and as far as I’m concerned, it’s just as much of a nuisance as Elizabeth was. Get out of my office and get your shit together.”

The second you were out of his office, the door slammed in your face. You checked your watch to find that you still had seven hours until sunrise. At least now you had a week to do whatever you want. It was forced vacation but it was vacation nonetheless. It didn’t change the gnawing in your stomach about the fight that you just had, but it was enough to keep you positive.

You climbed into your car and drove straight to house you had become so familiar with in the last week. Pulling up to the spot on the hill, you got out and made your way down to the figure you saw in the garden. Today, he seemed to flip aimlessly through another novel and it wouldn’t surprise you if it was one he read countless times before. You took a deep breath before approaching him. Your mood was far from the best but you wanted to be able to enjoy this time and not take out any anger on him.

“Early night?” Taeyong asked, turning to face you.

You moved to sit next to him. “It would have been a lot earlier but my partner kind of made things harder than necessary. And then I was forced to take a week off work.”

“If your partner was the one that messed up, why are you the one who’s in trouble?”

“That’s a good question. I mean she did get fired.” You sat for a second and he watched the way your eyebrows scrunched up before you buried your face in your hands. “I get it now.”

Taeyong said nothing, just let you sit and process your thoughts before you spoke again.

“I’ve been so awful to everyone. Just demanding that my way is done and insulting everyone in my path. Maybe I needed this week off.”

“If you’re that unhappy with your actions, then I agree. It will also give you time to make the changes you need.”

You leaned back, slumping on the bench. “I can’t believe I gave Yuta an ultimatum.”

“Yuta?” Taeyong asked quizzically. 

“My boss.” You explained. “I told him it was my partner or me.”

He nodded quietly. “That’s a bold move to put your job on the line.”

“I only did it because I knew I would win.” You admitted, ashamed of your actions now that you were having to share them. “I’m such a bitch. I should have known he would fire her.”

“I think that’s a strong word considering you’re already remorseful just an hour later.”

“You didn’t see the way I acted.” Looking back on the past couple of weeks, you were embarrassed. You had always had a sharp tongue and believed in voicing your opinion,  but this side of you was no longer strong. It was a demolition crew that would destroy everything in its path. You spent so long blaming Elizabeth that you didn’t see the problems in your own actions.

Taeyong put a comforting hand on your knee. “It’s okay. Take the week off and show that you used it to reflect like you were supposed to. Get some rest and go back to being a valuable member of the team.”

“You don’t have to be so nice to me.”

“You gave me kindness last night. It’s only right that I do the same.”

“All I did was talk about myself. I hardly see how that’s kind.” It seemed selfish and you went home wondering if there was something wrong with you since you were literally able to talk about yourself for eight hours straight.

“For the first time in years, I got to listen to someone else instead of listening to the same thoughts I’ve had for years.”

“I know that you said you think about you all the time, but I’d like to hear about you. I want to get to know you since I feel like you know me.”

“First tell me what happened tonight that lead to your unbearable partner getting fired.”

You explained the situation from her not reading the file to the horrible shot she attempted to make. All the while Taeyong looked at you, brows furrowing deeper as you progressed further and further into the events from the night.

“She doesn’t sound very competent. I already figured such from last night.”

“This was probably the worst. I’ve never seen her act so carelessly.”

“So those are the type of vampires you usually kill?”

You nodded. “Can you see why I didn’t really feel like you deserved to die?”

“Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever acted the way that man did. I’ve always loathed what I am and did my very best to not indulge in my desires, no matter how strong they became.”

“You said you feed on volunteers every now and then. How can you do that without turning them?”

“Puncture the skin and remove your fangs immediately so that by the time you’re finished feeding, the venom has been removed.”

You let your mind drift to how you thought it would feel to have Taeyong feed on you. Seeing countless vampires and the way they act, you had never had the desire but now you were next to one that had a gentleness that you didn’t even see in most humans. You couldn’t help but wonder if the desires were coming from possible feelings that you had developed over the past week. Denying the possibility, you changed the subject.

“I saw you with all these books one night looking at the stars. Do you know a lot?”

“I’m attempting to make my own charts. I used to want to be an astronomer before I was forced to enlist.”

It all made sense. When you looked at him, you noticed that he himself resembled one of the countless celestial bodies that filled the sky. You felt as if you were sitting next to your own personal moon. With skin that reflected any possible light around him and a calming presence, the only difference was that you found yourself falling into an orbit around  _ him  _ instead of vice versa. He had a strength that stemmed from nothing other than independence and solitude. He needed nothing and no one and lived a life completely on his own. His pull was drawing you to him no matter how much you tried to deny it.

You watched him as he fell into a languid speech about the progression of his charts over the years and you thought about asking him if he could ever fall in love again, wanting to know if he could ever look at you how he looked at the stars in the sky. Instead, you asked about the various constellations that filled the night he was so familiar with.

He said that space was more of a home to him than this earth could ever be while he flipped through the studies of Galileo and Agrippa. You wished that he could be able to share his discoveries with the world seeing as his mind had made advances far beyond anything that the revolutionaries he admired could have ever imagined. However, the world would never welcome anything that was proposed by someone who was no longer living. Your heart hurt for him as you knew he was aware of the fact that his passion would be revealed to no one other than you.

He escorted you inside and led you to a small office space that had an elegant desk sitting in the middle with a large bookshelf filling an entire wall. Your eyes scanned the books and found countless classics that had all been preserved by the heavy drapes blocking any sunlight. You knew that most on the shelf were probably first editions just by their appearance. He had an entirely separate set of shelves dedicated to nothing but expositories on his passion. You found encyclopedias of each planet and thousands of pages just for the stars.

When you turned around, you noticed the various editions of his current chart hanging on the wall. Each one had minor edits that he willingly pointed out for you. He placed his hand flat against one of the pages, eyes scanning the large parchment lovingly.

“If we go back outside, I can try to explain a few things to you.” He turned to you, voice unsure.

“I would love that.” Seeing how happy just showing you made him, you wanted to know the joy that you could uncover by allowing him the freedom to share and teach the one thing that gives his life a purpose.

You spent the rest of the night with your face arched towards the heavens while the stars moved just slowly enough for Taeyong to work through the new additions as they appeared in the sky. With his manor being out in the countryside, you were able to see everything so clearly due to the absence of light pollution. With words laced with vehemence, you found yourself adopting his passion as he taught you about each constellation and their original discovery. 

You forced yourself to stay awake despite the ease you felt with his voice surrounding you. He spoke softly and you couldn’t imagine being anywhere but on this thin blanket with Taeyong’s head beside you, long delicate fingers connecting stars before your very eyes.

“If I ask you something, know that you can say no.” You mused. You didn’t want him to feel pressured to accept what you were about to propose. 

Taeyong hummed, dropping his hand next to yours with his fingers grazing your own. “What is it?”

“Can I stay here this week?” You knew your voice would lack confidence so you lowered your volume to a whisper in hopes of masking the unsurety. 

“If you would like.” He nodded before tilting his head towards you. 

“It just takes so long to drive here and I feel like I’ve relaxed so much in my short time here,” you justified unnecessarily, “I can’t imagine what it would be like if I just stayed.”

“There’s a guest bedroom upstairs that you can use. I don’t sleep at all but I spend most days in the office so you won’t be bothered.”

“Thank you.” You finally faced him, meeting his eyes that were almost too intimidating to hold contact with.

“I think I should be thanking you. The past two nights have been the most content I’ve felt in years.” The shape of his eyes softened as he transitioned from observing your expression to revealing his own feelings on the matter.

“I’m glad that I’m not the only one gaining anything from this.”

“Hardly. Come back tomorrow night with your stuff and I can help you settle in.” He curled his pinky momentarily around your own before standing. “I should get inside. It’ll be dawn soon.”

You nodded, accepting his outstretched hand as he helped you up. He raised your hand to his lips, placing a small kiss on your knuckles before letting it drop to your side. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, ___. Get some rest.”

You watched him walk away as your heart pounded so hard you felt as if you could hear it beating in your ears. When he closed the door behind him, you forced yourself to finally walk back up to your car, knowing that you would see him when the sun set again.

The whole week was spent in the man’s courtyard covering a variety of topics. You learned fairly quickly that Taeyong’s immense knowledge wasn’t limited to astronomy. He also knew a great deal about the world’s religions and for some reason calculus and trigonometry. He said he wished he wouldn’t have spent so much time on mathematics but learning the subject came out of sheer boredom and slight curiosity for astrophysics. It wasn’t surprising in the slightest that his motivation all came back to understanding the growing expanse of the universe.

After moving on and discussing literature, which seemed to be his second favorite topic, you noticed at some point throughout the week that his library hadn’t been updated in probably a hundred years. He had mentioned in passing that his wife was the one who used to buy all his books for him. She would come home with arms full of novels Taeyong’s mind had yet to devour and you were sure that he hadn’t received another book since her death. One morning before finding rest after a long night of debating the talent of Shakespeare, you made your way to a small book store inside of town. After discussing his taste in great length, it wasn’t hard for you to pick out a wide variety of novels that could entertain him for the time being. Making your way back into the manor, arms holding up dozens of books in plastic bags, you dropped them off in his office. He opened his mouth to say something before you politely smiled at him and made your way out of the room as quickly as you entered it.

The next night was spent with Taeyong confessing he had already finished one of the novels that you brought him and you couldn’t help but feel a warmth spread through your chest when he praised it. You were much more knowledgeable on recent literature and holding a conversation with him was slightly easier now that you were in your own playing field. You gave him a small smile when he pulled out another book you had bought him before handing you one of his favorites. Resting your head on his lap, you took in the words carefully, knowing that this novel meant a great deal to the man you were beginning to care for so fiercely in such a small amount of time. He turned the pages of  _ To Kill a Mockingbird  _ at a much faster rate but you knew that he was reading the work with the same care and attention that you were. 

He eventually sat the book by his side and you froze when Taeyong wove his fingers through your hair, slightly combing through the strands that were splayed on his lap. “___.”

You looked up at him and hummed in acknowledgment, resting his book on your chest to hold your spot. 

“Is it bad that I have grown to care for you?”

Your breath caught in your throat but you forced yourself to shake your head in response. “The entire reason I came down here instead of killing you was because I cared about you without even meeting you.” You admitted quietly. You didn’t feel comfortable saying it before but with Taeyong’s own confession of his feelings, it was easier for you to form the words that had been occupying your mind.

“I must thank fate, then.” His hand moved from your hair to cup your face, thumb tracing over your cheekbone.

You closed the book and placed it next to you before sitting up, resting your palm on the other side of his legs. He leaned closer to you, searching your eyes for any sign to stop. When you provided none, he pressed his lips gently to yours.

He was once again warmed than you expected but you welcomed it gratefully, slowly moving your lips against his own. His hand found purchase on the back of your neck as he pulled you closer to him. Tongue tracing your bottom lip, you opened your mouth just enough for him to enter. 

He was addicting. You hated the control he had over you in such a short amount of time, but you were absolutely melting under his touch. You couldn’t imagine how your life would have played out if you never walked down that hill. Taeyong had made an impact on your entire being so quickly. He made you into a kinder and gentler person just by being around him. 

You deepened the kiss, moving your lips with greater intensity and he obliged. You felt the need to express just how intense your feelings had become but you knew you wouldn’t be able to say it. The hand you were previously using to support your weight moved to clutch onto his shirt, forcing you to lean into him more to stay balanced. Taeyong’s own hand slipped from your neck to your lower back, pressing your body closer to his. You wanted to explore every part of him. Learning about the expanse of his mind was such a victory for you that you wanted to be able to know about his body as well. You needed to know about each and every part of him in great detail.

You moved your hand down his chest and to his waist before Taeyong eventually broke away. “The sun will be rising soon,” he whispered against your lips.

You looked towards the sky and noticed the small gradient in the horizon. The dark purple had quickly become your least favorite color as it symbolized the end of your time with Taeyong. Even if it were just for a few hours, you grew to hate your time away from him. “Lay with me? Until I fall asleep?”

He smiled at you, leaning in to kiss your nose. “If that would make you happy.”

You found sleep that morning being cradled in his arms. Resting your head on his chest, you closed your eyes listening to a deafening silence when you should have heard the sound of a heartbeat.

The rest of your week off went similarly. You would sit with him and talk about whatever the two of you pleased before you greeted the sunrise you couldn’t watch in one of the guest bedrooms. Taeyong stayed with you longer and longer each day until the last evening when you woke up to find him still next to you, quietly flipping through one of the novels you bought. You made a silent note to make another trip to the book store soon.

“You go back to work tonight.” He mused before turning the page.

“I guess you’re right.”

“Did you enjoy your week off?” He asked, corners of his lips just slightly upturned.

You hummed, resting your chin on his chest to look at him better. “It was alright. The company could have been better.”   
He laughed and the sound echoed in the expanse of the room while you allowed yourself to drown in it. “Tonight I will make it my goal to be better company, then.”

“That sounds awfully suggestive, Mr. Lee.” You rolled out of bed and searched for a pair of jeans in your bag that you brought from home.

He laughed once more and you couldn’t help but smile as you watched him. “My statement was up for interpretation, but I must admit that  _ that _ was not my intent.”

“You still want me to come back tonight?” You already knew the answer, but it was nice to have the confirmation from him that your presence was welcome.

“I would be thankful to have you near me every night, ___.”

“Then every night it will be.” Your heart picked up a little bit at the thought of being surrounded by Taeyong almost every waking hour. It made going to work tolerable.

“I appreciate your company, but do you not have other things you would rather be doing?” He asked you as he played with the hem of the bedspread.

“You overestimate my social skills. I have friends at work but we all kind of like to keep to ourselves so I don’t see anyone outside of the office.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t help that your old partner was miserable to be around.” He teased   
You pointed one of your boots at him before sliding it on. “You’re very correct about that.”

The drive to work was longer than usual and you blamed it on the fact that you knew you were driving further and further away from Taeyong. When you reached the small office, you greeted the lady at the front before making your way back to Yuta’s office. You took a deep breath before knocking, opening the door after receiving a proper invitation. You needed to be more respectful of his position while you were in the workspace regardless of your personal relationship with him. You wished that he could lead the department and be your partner at the same time, but the company wouldn’t allow it.

“Hey.” You poked your head around the door.

Yuta raised his head, eyebrow raised. “You knocked.” He acknowledged.

“I did.” Entering the room, you closed the door behind you. “Look. I’m sorry for the way I acted. It was inappropriate. I never should have given you that ultimatum and I never should have been a brat about my assignments.”

“Did you just apologize?”

“Please don’t make me do it again.” You pleaded with him.

He laughed at you before digging a file out of his desk. “What the hell did you do this week? You came back a different person.”

“I did a lot of thinking.” It wasn’t a lie. Taeyong had made you use your brain more than you had in years. 

“Okay well, Ten quit, leaving Johnny without a partner.” You opened your mouth to talk but found that Yuta wasn’t finished. “But, Doyoung and Sicheng had an argument on the field and so I had to separate them. Long story short, your new partner is Doyoung and you need to start an observance week tonight.” He handed you the file and you flipped through it carefully.

“That’s it? No ‘don’t do that again or you’re out’ or ‘you better watch it from now on, ___’?” You tease him

“Nah, I think you learned your lesson this week.”

“I never thought the day would come where Nakamoto Yuta let me off easy.”

“I made you take a week off. How is that letting you off easy?”

You ignored his question, standing up and making your way out of his office. “I’m gonna go find Doyoung. Love you, bye!”

Maybe taking a week off was the best thing for you. Now you were able to work with your ideal partner. The only problem was that you had to start an observation week meaning that you had to spend all night this week watching some woman. The only way you could get out early is if she had an outburst and you could end the assignment early. Unfortunately for you, there were plenty of cases like Taeyong where the vampire kept to themselves and the only proof that you had was their unreasonable avoidance of sunlight.

Doyoung sat at the breakroom table, flipping through his own copy of the file. It was such a relief to be partnered with someone who actually knew what they were doing.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t ___.” Doyoung stood up and hugged you. “When was the last time we were on a mission together.”

You slumped down in the chair next to where he was sitting, setting your own file on the desk. “Before Sicheng and Elizabeth got hired and they split us up.”

“Yeah. By the way, I’m sorry to hear about Liz. I know how much you loved her.” He teased, smirk playing on his lips.

You laughed. “Shut the fuck up. Let’s just look at this file so we can get going.”

“You got somewhere to be, ___?”

You shook your head despite the fact that you wanted to be with Taeyong. “No. I’m just not the biggest fan of observance weeks.”

“I don’t blame you.” Doyoung agreed. “I don’t think anyone is.”

You ended up in the passenger’s side of Doyoung’s car perched outside of the new target’s house. Junk food surrounded you as your partner finished off his remaining french fries.

“Okay not gonna lie. I think this one’s a bust.” Doyoung said before popping another fry into his mouth.

You laughed. “We’ve been here for three hours.”

“And they haven’t moved! No lights have turned on, no one’s left the house, nothing!”

“You’re worse at stakeouts than I am.”

“Excuse me. I heard you were excellent at stakeouts. In fact, I heard you did the last one very diligently. Elizabeth left you most nights and you still finished the watch.”

For you, watching Taeyong never felt like a job. Within the first hour up on the hill, you knew that it was different from anything you had ever done for work. “That one was different.” You mumbled before stealing one of his fries.

He slapped your hand but you were able to successfully take some of the food. “How was it different. You sit and watch the bloodsucker exist to try and confirm that they are, in fact, a bloodsucker.”

“I was trying to prove that he wasn’t one.” You admitted. It felt nice to finally say that and you trusted Doyoung to not read too much into it. “I was looking for literally any sign that he was a human.”

He read between the lines of your confession. “You got attached.”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Doesn’t matter because I finished the assignment.” You played with the window control, holding the button up even though it wouldn’t do anything. The mindless action giving you something to do while you lied.

“Look, it happens. I had a case like that. I was strangely disappointed when I saw her take a victim on the last night of my observance week.” Doyoung let out a huff before reaching for his drink. “It took me a few weeks to shake the weird funk I was in. She was so enticing that I found myself wanting to prove that she wasn’t what she was accused of being.”

“Exactly!”

“I’m glad you went ahead and killed him though because they all eventually snap. Even the ones that seem harmless.”

The comment left an uneasy feeling in your stomach. Surely, that wasn’t the case with Taeyong. He only fed on volunteers and even then, he didn’t do it near as often as he probably should have. You watched the house as a light turned on and saw an instant way out of the conversation. “Would you look at that. There’s movement.”

“Now that it’s almost midnight,” Doyoung mumbled. 

As soon as his statement was finished, the light turned back off, eliciting a groan from the both of you. “I think you’re right about it being a dud.”

“This may be my first dead end but we definitely all know the protocol for what to do.”

You really were going to have to wait out the whole entire week in Doyoung’s car and away from Taeyong. You leaned your head back, resting it against the headrest as you realized what was actually going on. “So this is my real punishment.”

“Don’t even joke because I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Nuh uh!” You turned to him. “Yuta told me you fought with Sicheng on the field.”

“Yuta wouldn’t really give us a dead end case on purpose, would he? That’s such a waste of money.”   
You peered at him sideways.

“Oh my god, you’re right.” His eyes widened. “I could kill him.”

“You and me both.” Your cups bumped together as you planned what to do for the rest of the week now that you knew you wouldn’t have to be genuinely waiting outside this woman’s house thanks to the trackers you wore while on shift.

The rest of the week went by agonizingly slow. Ideally, you would have gone to Taeyong’s house and just slept there just so you could see him for a little bit, but sitting in a car doing nothing was more taxing than you imagined. Doyoung came up with way too many stupid brain games to play to keep you occupied. By the time it was dawn, all you wanted was to go to sleep and be done for the day. You hated that with this being a punishment, Yuta would only accept observations made on the clock. If he would allow you to work overtime, you could stay until dawn and catch the woman going outside while the sun was out. At least throughout the week you had a partner that you relatively enjoyed. He was friendly enough and made you laugh. He knew about his cases and he didn’t take shots until he was confident.

By the time Friday morning rolled around, you thought that you and Doyoung might be at your breaking point. You had managed to get cabin fever being stuck in the car with him all night, every night. You both walked into the office with glares that could kill an army of men and marched straight to Yuta’s office.

“It’s a dead end.” You said curtly.

Doyoung added on sarcastically. “We’re extremely sorry for any inconveniences we caused you, oh great boss of mine. Can we have a real assignment now?”

Yuta smiled at the both of you before grabbing a new file out of his desk and each handing you a copy. “When did you figure it out?”   
“About three hours into the first night. ___ was the one who figured out it was our punishment, though.”

“I knew you two were my best hunters. I’ll see you tomorrow. Get some rest.” He dismissed you with a smug look on his face, clearly proud of himself for the week you two had to go through watching an innocent woman’s home.

You got in your car and drove straight to Taeyong’s. You had no idea if he would even let you inside since the sun was now peeking above the horizon but you at least had to try. Taeyong was still stuck in the 19th century and was completely without any working form of a telephone. It was beyond frustrating that you couldn’t communicate with him, but at least if you went over right away, you would be able to explain what happened.

You pulled up to the private manor in the countryside and knocked on the door slowly. To your surprise, the door opened and you walked in while looking for the man you had been wanting to see. He closed the door, having used it as a shield from the rays of light.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to come see you, but Yuta sent me and my new partner on a fake observation week as some sick punishment for our actions recently.”

“___, you don’t owe me an explanation. You are allowed to have a life outside of me. It would be selfish to expect you to spend every waking hour with me.”

“I want to though.” You mumbled, looking down at your feet like a child.

He placed a gentle hand under your chin and forced you to look up at him. “I would like you to as well, but I do not expect that of you.”

Your eyes scanned his face and you realized just how weak he looked. His normal pale coloring was now borderline sickly. His eyes were sunken in and you were able to see each vein through the translucence of his skin. You didn’t know the last time he ate anything and at this point, you were scared to ask. Instead, you bit your lip and tried to figure out how to force the words you wanted to say to come out. “Taeyong, I want you to feed on me.”

His brows furrowed and as soon as he opened his mouth to turn down your offer, you interrupted him.  “I can tell you haven’t eaten anything in a while and I’m here. I also don’t know if I want you to feed on anyone else. I know it sounds stupid to be jealous over something like that, but for some reason I am. I can go to sleep as soon as you’re finished and rest. Please just… use me.”

“Are you sure?” He asked tentatively. It was a big thing to trust him with seeing as you were putting your life in his hands and trusting him to stop before putting you in any type of serious danger. Why you found that you were so willing after such a short amount of time was beyond you. Maybe it was because he had so many opportunities to steal your life from you and he never once even attempted to do such.

“I’ve been thinking about it since you first talked about it, honestly.” You admitted.

He nodded before leading you to the bedroom you spent most of last week in. Taeyong gave you a shirt of his to wear to bed and turned away while you changed into it.

You sat on the bed expectantly while Taeyong moved to sit next to you, brushing your hair out of the way and dragging your finger up and down your neck.

“I need you to tell me now if you have any doubts.” He told you, giving you one last way out.

You politely declined and he took a deep breath, looking at you as if searching for any sign to stop and leave the room. It was clear that he was more unsure about this than you were.

There was only one thing that you were nervous about seeing as your jump was to hunt vampires. You couldn’t exactly walk around with the mark of one and expect no one to ask questions. “Will I have to hide the marks?”

“They heal faster than you would expect.” He reassured you. “They’ll probably be gone by the time you wake up.”

You nodded and he turned your face towards him, pressing a kiss to your lips. He went to move away but you slipped a hand behind his neck and pulled him back into you. It had only been a week since you felt his lips on yours but it somehow felt like an eternity.

Taeyong broke away momentarily. “Was this just a plan to coerce me into bed?”

“No, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” You joked.

He took the hint, lowering you onto the bed and situating himself above you. Even in his weak state, he was still the most beautiful man you had ever seen. You raised your hand to rub your thumb along his cheekbone before he leaned back down to meet your lips again.

Taeyong worked slowly as if taking you apart piece by piece. He kissed every expanse of your body and left not a single sensitive area untouched. You dragged your hands across expanses of exposed skin while he pleasured you diligently. Never in your life had you felt more cared for and appreciated. He praised every part of your body before giving it the attention he felt like it deserved.

When he finally pushed past your entrance, it was like this was how you were supposed to be. His body was made to be consumed by yours as he made slow thrusts into you and your legs wrapped around his waist. He continued to press delicate kisses to your neck and collarbone between each praise and each glide of his hips. The movement of your bodies together was heavenly.

When you finally reached climax, you tightened your hold on him and didn’t even try to suppress the moans he was eliciting from you. Taeyong was not far behind you as heavy breaths grazed the skin of your shoulder while he came undone above you. 

He looked at you, eyes filled with adoration as he placed a final kiss to your lips. “Did you really mean it when you  said you wanted me to feed on you?”

You nodded expectantly. If anything, this experience just made you want it more.

He slowly pulled himself out of you before sitting up and encouraging you to move and sit next to you. He once again moved your hair away before looking at you once more. “It’s going to hurt at first, okay?”

You acknowledged his statement and he turned his attention to your neck, placing small kisses down the stretch of skin until he reached his ideal area. He closed his lips around the space sucking softly before you felt a piercing pain from his teeth breaking through the tender skin. You held in any noise of discomfort, not wanting to Taeyong to stop doing something he clearly needed. The experience needed to be as guilt free as possible so that he would do this again if he needed to. The sharp sting was gone practically as soon as you felt it and was replaced by a soothing press of his tongue before he began sucking.

You felt light-headed, but not in the way that you expected. You thought the blood loss would make things a little bit foggy. Instead, you felt overwhelmed by the sheer intimacy of the exchange. He had you in such a vulnerable state and he chose not to kill you by completely draining your body. You gave a small moan, surprised by the pleasure you felt. Taeyong’s hand gripped your thigh momentarily before he pressed his tongue to the wound once more, breaking his hold on the punctures.

“Yeah, I definitely don’t think I want you feeding on anyone else now.” You admitted. You had never felt closer to anyone in your life than you did while Taeyong drank from you. 

He rested his hand on the back of your head before leaning you back on the pillow. He turned you so that your neck was resting on the pillow, presumably to apply some sort of pressure to the area and stop the steady bleeding. He brushed your hair out of your face before pressing a small kiss to your forehead. “If you don’t want me to, then I won’t.”

You nodded gently before closing your eyes and greeting sleep. You wanted to stay awake for longer and be able to spend time with him since you felt like you had missed so much, but the blood loss was finally taking its toll on you. 

Instead, you reached for him and he slipped his hand into yours. “Stay with me.” You muttered. You were barely awake long enough to feel the bed dip beside you and his arms slip around your waist.

Most of the next few months went similarly. You would get to the house in the countryside as soon as you could and would tell him about work before he would start talking about any advances he had made since the last time you saw him. His bookshelf was now littered with a mixture of dark, classic hardbound books and new, colorful paperbacks, bearing a stark contrast that almost resembled the two of you. You watched him become more outspoken about his experiences in the past and he claimed it was because it wasn’t the only thing he thought about anymore. You learned about the family he had before the war. He told you about his older sister and how he wished he would have been able to see her and her children grow up. He voices his regrets about not being there when his mother and father passed. But, how was he to explain that he hadn’t aged in 40 years? He spent so much time avoiding the people who raised him just because he was scared he would have another outburst and be the reason for their death. He would have never been able to forgive himself.

He also spoke of his meager attempts to try and find a vampire group that he felt comfortable with. He spoke of the horrors he witnessed and the brutal murders they would commit every time he would find a new group of wanderers to join. He had always been a pacifist and he just couldn’t bring himself to commit the crimes they were committing. He said he would rather be so weak he couldn’t move than participate in what they were doing.

He found this house one afternoon when he saw an older woman caring to her garden. He sparked up a conversation with her and began to help her with various chores around the house seeing as she could now barely move. She herself never had any visitors aside from Taeyong, so when she passed, she left the house to the man in her will and he accepted it gratefully. Not too long after, her granddaughter came to visit, hoping to find the woman she heard stories about when she was younger. When she arrived and found Taeyong instead, he explained the situation while she listened somberly. Her entire family had recently passed due to an illness and she was left with no one. Since it was her granddaughter, Taeyong opened the house to her and allowed her to stay with him as long as she deemed necessary. As they grew closer, Taeyong had to eventually reveal his true nature to the woman. She never seemed to mind that he was no longer alive, claiming that it didn’t matter because he once was human and since he held onto his humanity, as far as she was concerned, he still was one.

He had been a lone wolf for almost the entirety of his life before he met the woman that he ended up marrying. Before, you had been jealous of her because she was able to be with Taeyong in a way that no one ever had and a way that you could never be. Now that you’ve heard more about what Taeyong went through, you were grateful for her because, without her, you would probably never would have had him. He would have been alone in that house for too many years. Sometimes he told you stories about her but it seemed like it was still a topic he avoided whether for your comfort or his own was still a mystery to you.

Seeing so many sides of his past over the past few months did nothing but make you fall harder for him. You were glad that he finally felt comfortable enough to share so many things with you and you willingly shared as much as you could with him despite your lifespan being a fraction of the time his was.

One night, you sat on the couch as rain poured down around the manor. You draped your legs over Taeyong’s and flipped through the pages of your book lazily while Taeyong studied a new astronomy textbook you bought for him while you in town. He took in all the information eagerly since it was his first time hearing such. He spoke of the phenomenon of black holes, wonder filling his eyes and you had to remind yourself that the discovery was made while he was locked in the manor with no outside contact. Your smile overtook your face as he soaked in the discoveries and joked about how he finally had a use for the calculus he made himself learn. You made a mental note to buy him some astrophysics textbooks when you were out next.

A banging sounded on the door and you looked at Taeyong confused. Not once in your months of spending nights with him did he ever have a visitor.

“___! Open this door!” Yuta’s voice echoed through the otherwise empty room.   
Plans rushed through your head with a sequence of defenses in order to keep the man next to you alive. You would do anything in your power to protect him. You had grown far too close to him to lose him.

As if knowing what you were thinking, Taeyong placed a gentle hand onto your cheek. His thumb ran across the bone, collecting a tear that you didn’t know had fallen.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay. They’re going to break in and kill you.” Your panic laced through every hushed word.

“I told you when we first met, I do not care about death.” He reminded you. You knew it was supposed to provide you comfort but it made the fear spread farther throughout your body. The threat of losing him came so much closer to reality.

“But I do.” Your voice shook with the simple words.

Taeyong gave you a small smile, his eyes soft with sympathy. He knew what it was like to lose the one you loved and he hated that he was so selfish as to put you through this pain. “___. The last few months, you have made this life worth living. I had forgotten what it was like to genuinely be happy.”

“Taeyong, please.”

He shook his head, trying to repress the tears that were now brimming his own eyes. “It is the highest honor to die having known what it was like to be loved by you.”

He pulled you closer to him, pressing a kiss to your lips and reaching for your hip. Sliding the gun out of the holster, he placed it into your hands.

“Please, do this for me. I have no clue what they will do if they find me.”

“I won’t shoot you.” You shook your head furiously. There was no way you would be able to kill the man you loved. He had given you a purpose to the life that you realized previously had none. You couldn’t go back to living your life knowing that it would be without him.

“You have to or they will. Please, ___. Let me be with the stars.” He looked at you, eyes pleading. The only way he could go in the least painful way possible was if you were the one in control.

You took the gun in shaky hands, tears blurring your vision as you pressed the barrel to his chest and took a deep breath. 

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Yuta finally managed to bust the front door open, strolling into the living room and prompting you to pull the trigger. As soon as you felt the kickback, you dropped the gun and finally released your sobs, falling onto the man underneath you. The sound of the gun echoed in your ear as you forced yourself to come to terms with what you just did.

Taeyong’s hand found your back as he let out a final whisper. “Thank you.”

Hands curled into the crisp fabric of his button down as you watched blood seep into the white cotton draped across his chest. Your tears mixed with the spilling red, creating a spread of the color in front of you, a watercolor painting of pain and misery and the ending of a life.

Yuta wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you off of Taeyong’s body while you kicked and screamed in protest. If you could prevent the final step, maybe just maybe Taeyong could come back. Yuta passed your writhing body to two men at the door as he walked over to light his match after he emptied a small can of gasoline over the Taeyong’s body. The flame fell and caught ablaze on the man’s pants before quickly spreading and engulfing his whole body in a blaze that would signal the end.

You sank to the floor and were left to watch the love of your life burn to ashes.

Yuta later told you that one night you forgot to turn your tracker off and he recognized the location from the week of your stakeout. For a few weeks, he was overriding your actions and keeping your tracker on to confirm the mission being incomplete. After seeing the state you were in, he couldn't apologize enough. You forgave him knowing that in his mind he was keeping you safe. Unfortunately, he couldn't be more wrong. 

Yuta allowed you to keep your job with the agreement that Doyoung would confirm the completion of each assignment. You no longer had any interest of pursuing a vampire and Yuta believed you, but word traveled fast in your small company and it was the only way he could justify keeping you when the other hunters asked. Being able to keep your job ended up being more of a burden than anything seeing as you now hated the night time.

The night sky was never the same. You at least convinced Yuta to allow you to take some of his belongings with you. You made sure to grab a few of his favorite books before grabbing his most recent chart. At night, you would watch as the stars made their way across the sky and you would compare the different times to the drawings he had made, consistently looking for just a single new star that might be him. He belonged there, with the celestial bodies he loved so much. You scanned his chart for his favorite time of night and added a small mark in one of the free spaces. If he couldn’t be in the sky itself, he could at least be apart of the one he drew for years and years. 

The chart remained hung up in your own office for years and years, never taking it down. Your heart still shattered every time you looked at it but it hurt less and less every time. There were times that everything would hit you like a wild wave of emotions, but the outbursts slowly became fewer. You never found peace after losing Taeyong and you would never try and convince yourself that you did. The only thing that provided comfort was knowing that you were able to give Taeyong one of the only things he ever wanted, an end.    


**Author's Note:**

> i'm not gonna lie, i cried a bit writing this
> 
> tell me what you think!  
> tumblr: lovingyong


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